Love to Ride: Boulder Bike Challenge

The Love to Ride Boulder Bike Challenge starts September 12th and runs through October 7th. Elaine Erb with the program says they’re hoping to encourage novice and experienced cyclists to participate. It’s “a one month long encouragement campaign designed to get people out onto bicycles and you only have to ride for about 10 minutes to be part of it.  We want to encourage brand new bicyclists and existing bicyclists.”

The campaign is an opportunity for people to log their bike rides, starting at just a 10 minute ride, and accumulate points. “You get a point every day ride, a point for every mile you ride, but you get 50 points when you encourage somebody to ride their bike and 100 points if that person is new.”

Erb says that there is an increase in people who are using bicycles to commute, particularly as many cities become less attractive to car commuters due to issues like congestion and parking costs. “There really has been a growth and some of it in a way took some people by surprise. We’re finding that a lot of young people in particular are recognizing that vehicles are not where they want to spend their money…they realize that they can bike around, walk…”

In the last Boulder Bike Challenge, KGNU had 100% participation amongst its staff members. The station has just been certified at the silver level by the League of American Bicyclists. That recognizes that KGNU encourages bicycling as an easy option for transportation and provides amenities such as a shower and covered bike racks to encourage commuting by bicycle.

Boulder B Cycle is offering a one month free membership to coincide with the Boulder Bike Challenge.